


Working For their Happiness

by Ficman



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Gen, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Post-New Dangan Ronpa V3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 02:58:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15877080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficman/pseuds/Ficman
Summary: A former fan of Danganronpa has a fateful encounter with someone special one dark night. What happens changes her life forever.





	Working For their Happiness

The night shift in the convenience store was always quiet. Since it was in a rather small urban area very few people even bothered using it at any time past seven o’clock. But Kumamart always proudly displayed its “open 24 hours” sign on every store, no matter how much of a waste of money and electricity it was. Most nights there was only a single employee at the counter, forced to wait away the night in complete boredom. 

Hikari supposed she should be grateful, there weren’t many jobs going for people after the…incident. Even Kumamart had been hit quite considering who it was named after. Luckily, they were able to change to a cuter and more conventional bear mascot. It wasn’t like Mondo dairy products or Tsumiki Pharmaceuticals who tanked a scant few months after the incident.

It had been a year and a half since that incident. Six months on confusion, fear and public outcry. Then six months of lingering guilt and questions. Finally, six more months of wondering what would happen now all this was over. The incident had brought about so many changes in the world. Some good, and some bad, but Hikari knew that nothing would be the same anymore.

Hikari sighed, brushed some strands of hair away from her eyes and scrolled through news on her phone. Seemed like every single one was saying the same thing. Rumors about a new season coming up, talks about the companies creating a newer and safer version of the Game, even talk about using VR to replace the old way of doing the Killing Game. Hikari knew these were all just empty promises. There could be no doubt about it, ever since that day there was one fact that everyone knew to be true.

Danganronpa was over.

However, the forums were still up and buzzing with activity, but for a very different reason now. People who had discussed grizzly murders and betrayal before now spoke of those who had survived the Killing Game. Once they had forums for execution ideas, for original characters being murdered of punished in various gory ways, betting pools on who would survive the Killing Game, weird fanfiction about the participants falling in love or being mermaids or being soul bonded. Worst of all there were threads about the current Killing Games, about the joyful despair of the executions and the wonderful hope the endings always brought.

But four people had changed all of that. They had given their lives to show how unjust and wrong the Killing Games were. Hikari was thankful for that, she had spent her entire childhood watching Danganronpa, never suspecting that the entire thing may be destructive, that the hope it brought to everyone was a hollow false hope that relied upon the death of others. After the final trial, she felt liberated, glad that she hadn’t voted for hope or despair. 

However, not everyone had felt the same way. After the final trial the world had been thrown into chaos and confusion. There had been riots on the streets, companies going out of business and the unemployment rate skyrocketed. Hikari was one of the lucky ones, she lived in a peaceful town far away from the larger cities. Here there was just a vague feeling of unease as people realized just what they had been doing for the past fifty years. Hikari had felt it too but talking with other people online had helped her realize they needed to make up for it by doing some good in this world.

She signed petitions asking for Team Danganronpa to be shut down, tweeted about their unsavory business practices, and she even went to Tokyo to protest outside of the Team Danganronpa building before being driven away by the Idabashi Industries security robots. Team Danganronpa was in dire financial straights already, it was only a matter of time before it collapsed but she needed to do every little thing she could to help. And this was all because of something she believed in her heart of hearts, something that kept her going through the day and gave her hope. 

Saihara Shuichi, Maki Harukawa and Himiko Yumeno were alive and well. She had gone over the footage with her friends on the forums more times than she could count. There was a very real chance that they had been trapped under some rubble and managed to survive the final punishment. There had been no word from Team Danganronpa is they had found their bodies or not, which meant there was probably nothing to find. The biggest piece of evidence however, was the sightings.

Since the Killing Games had ended there had been a number of sightings of the Survivor Trio as it was called. Some were just glimpses on a crowded train or street, others had walked right up and talked to them. Most, if not all of the sightings ended with the Survivor Trio quickly escaping. No one had been able to have a real conversation with them, they were only able to shout words of encouragement as the survivors ran away. Luckily the people who reported in nearly always told them of the location of the sighting, so it had become easy to track their movements across the country. That is, until about two months ago when the sightings suddenly stopped.

No one knew where they were, the trail had come up cold and all of the search parties had found nothing. It was as if they had just disappeared off of the face of the earth. For a couple of weeks, the forums were panicking. Maybe Team Danganronpa had found them, maybe they were dead, maybe they had chosen to end it all. Though the situation had calmed over the last month there still were rumblings of a mass search party for the Survivor Trio.

However, Hikari knew they had to be alive, and the fact that they had no news about them was a sign that they were safe. They must have found a place to settle down and live peacefully, without Killing Games or Danganronpa. Hikari smiled to herself as she looked at her phone, it was little thoughts like these that helped get her through the day. Still, she wished she could talk to them just once, to tell them all the things they had done for her and how she believed in them.

She heard the automatic door to the store open and someone step inside. She gave a half hearted “welcome” without even bothering to look up. The customers at this time at night were usually too tired or in too much of a hurry to bother with formalities. Hikari just continued looking at her phone, engrossed in a particularly interesting article.

The only noise for about fifteen minutes was the customer walking through the store and the low hum of the florescent lights. Hikari looked at the time, three thirty am. Looking up from her phone she could see that the customer was a woman with short black hair and glasses. She was carrying basket was nearly overflowing with food and basic toiletries. 

“Wonder why she’s shopping at this hour?” Hikari muttered to herself. The woman shopping looked young enough, she was probably fresh out of high school or in her third year at least. Was she in college? Why would she be doing all her weekly shopping at a convenience store this late? There was a supermarket not too far from here, it was a little confusing.

There was something extremely familiar about the woman too. Had she seen her before? She hadn’t seen anyone like her in the town. Had they only just moved in? Why would they be doing their shopping so late at night? Putting her phone down and leaning forward on the counter to get a better look at her, she realized there was a good reason why she felt so familiar. A faint hope rose in Hikari, as she slowly put the pieces together. 

“It can’t be.” Hikari whispered, staring at the woman.

The customer began walking toward the counter, and now that she got a better look at her Hikari knew exactly who it was. Even though she was wearing glasses and her hair was now a bob cut there could be no doubt about it. She had studied their faces for months just in case she got a glimpse at them on the street. It all had paid off now, she knew exactly who this mystery customer was. The customer placed their basket on the counter and began to thumb through their wallet. Hikari just stared at them, completely awestruck by the person in front of her. 

“Maki Roll?”

She hadn’t meant to say anything, it just slipped out. She just couldn’t believe what was happening, she had been following them in the internet for months and now Maki shows up right in front of her. It couldn’t be anything other than destiny, there was nothing that would stop her from asking all the questions that had been burning in the back of her head for months. She wanted to talk to her, no she NEEDED to talk with her.

“I-I’m sorry you have the wrong person” Maki said, averting her gaze from Hikari’s stare.

“No…no I know it’s you” Hikari said, her voice barely above a whisper, “I’ve seen your picture, you look just like it. I…I have so much I want to ask…”

Before she could get another word in Maki had turned and made a run for the door. Thinking quickly Hikari pressed a button under the counter and there was a buzzing noise as the automatic doors locked. Maki stood in front of the doors, raised her foot and got ready to smash the glass.

“If you smash the glass the alarm will go off!” Hikari shouted, “Th-then I’ll tell the police about you…that you were here.”

Maki slowly turned and glared at Hikari. Hikari felt a cold chill run through her entire body, this was completely different from seeing it on the tv screen. She could feel the malice and hatred in Maki’s eyes burn into her skin. Her entire body began shaking and her legs nearly gave out from under her. But still she held her ground, and even though she quickly averted her gaze she didn’t unlock the doors.

“Open these doors now.” Maki said in a slow, quiet voice.

“N-n-n-no!” Hikari squeaked, “I-I don’t want to report you to the police…I-I just want to ask you some questions.”

Maki began to walk toward the counter again, her eyes filled with fury. Every bone in Hikari’s body was telling her to run but she didn’t move a muscle. It wasn’t out of any sense of bravery, more that Maki’s glare had her completely frozen to the spot. Maki slammed a hand down on the counter and looked right into Hikari’s eyes.

“Y-you won’t hurt me! I know that you’re a good person Maki Roll.” Hikari said, “A-anyway, if you hurt me there’ll be an investigation, and I’ll tell everyone. A-and I know you won’t kill anyone because Kaito wouldn’t want you to…”

“Don’t. Say. That. Name.” Maki growled through clenched teeth.

“Eeek, I won’t I won’t.” Hikari said, trying to stop her entire body from shaking. “Just a couple of q-questions and I’ll l-let you go…p-please? I won’t tell anyone.”

Maki continued to glare at her, but her expression softened just a fraction. She sighed and shook her head, her expression changing to one of frustration. She put her hand in her face and without looking at Hikari began to speak. 

“Fine, I’ll answer your questions. You have five minutes, and you can’t tell anyone about this, not even your friends online. You didn’t see me, and you will destroy the surveillance camera footage.”

Maki pointed to the surveillance camera that surveyed the whole shop. It was a pretty old model that still recorded using tape, so destroying it wouldn’t really be a problem. However, destroying Kumamart property would at the very least cause a reduction in her salary, and at worst lead her to being fired.

“I-I’ll get in trouble.” Hikari muttered. Maki looked up at her and it seemed like she was about to glare at her again, but she just sighed waved her hand dismissively.

“Just make sure no one else sees it, I doubt anyone is going to go through a small-town convenience store’s security footage in that much detail.” Maki said. “Now, give me your questions and let’s get this over with.”

Hikari tried to steady her breathing, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and she wasn’t going to let it slip by. She had so many questions, but she needed to keep it to the most important ones. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, and then began to speak.

“Are…are you all safe?” She said, her voice filled with hope. “Are Team Danganronpa after you? I-I need to know.”

“Team Danganronpa hasn’t found us, that’s a small comfort,” Maki said curtly, clearly irritated by her question. “We haven’t heard from them at all since we escaped. Is that all you needed to know?”

“Oh no, I have so…many more questions.” Hikari said, feeling a little more enthusiastic.

“Then say them.” Maki said, in an exasperated tone “You have three minutes left.”

Hikari tried as hard as she could to choose another question, which wasn’t easy considering the pressure she was under. “Um…do you ever…wonder what you were like before the Killing Game?”

“No, I don’t.”

Maki’s voice was now colder than it ever had been, and she had begun to glare at Hikari again. Hikari realised that she had clearly hit a nerve, and quickly decided to change the subject.

“Uh…um…well,” Hikari stammered, all the questions she wanted to ask seemed to be far too personal or too close to the subject of Killing Games. If this was Shuichi or Himiko then it would be a lot easier, but Maki was a very tough nut to crack. Hikari realised that most of her questions with either be answered with a “no” or a glare. There was one thing she could say to her however, something she knew would get through to her. She took a deep breath and tried to overcome the fear that was swirling around her body.

“This…this isn’t a question, but I just wanna say I’m rooting for you out there.” Hikari said, smiling at Maki, “I always make sure to say how I wish for your happiness in the forums, and I’ve even participated in a protest against Team Danganronpa. I’m really glad that you opened my eyes to how wrong Killing Games are! I’m dedicating my life to stopping them now! I signed a petition and everything. I always follow any news I get of you, because I really feel good when I hear that you’re safe. It’s something that helps me remember what I’m fighting for. You guys have changed my life for the better, and I’m grateful to you. Oh, and could you tell Himiko she’s my favourite? Oh, I guess I’m rambling a little now. Anyway, just remember there are always people watching out for you, and they want you to be happy.”

After Hikari had said all of that there was a long silence. Maki was staring at the ground and her breathing was becoming heavy, as if she was trying to calm herself. Hikari was about to say something more to her when she noticed Maki was clenching her fists tightly, so tightly that the knuckles where turning white. Hikari was worried, what had she said to upset her? All she did was wish for their happiness.

“Happy?” Maki said, her voice slow and harsh, “When you people are constantly stalking us and making our lives hell?”

“W-what?” Hikari froze, she hadn’t expected that reaction, “I thought you’d like to know people still support you and…”

“You’re not supporting us, you’re stalking us!” Maki shouted, slamming her fist down on the counter “You all think you can just come up to us in the street and say hi like nothing happened? Like you   
didn’t all want us to die for your Killing Game? Like you didn’t support these games for 52 seasons before all of this?! Like just standing outside a building with signs or complaining on the internet suddenly makes the fact that you did nothing to help us while we were in that damn game okay?”

Hikari was speechless, she hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from Maki. At worst she had expected her to just dismiss all her praise, or maybe even just give her a small “thank you”. She just wanted to know they were happy, was that so wrong? 

“Have you ever thought about why we’re always moving around? It’s because every single time we find a place to settle down you people find us!” Maki continued, “And when you people post about it online, more people come, people who DON’T like us. Then we have to move before they find us and do something to hurt us. People have attacked us before, you know that? Shuichi’s had a concussion because someone threw something at him! Himiko’s always looking over her shoulder these days in case someone tries to kidnap her! It’s all because of people like you! You’re the reason we don’t feel happy!”

Hikari began to back away as Maki yelled at her. No, she wasn’t just yelling at her. This was clearly something that had been on her mind for some time. Something that had been building up inside of her and now she was letting it all come to the surface. Had she been keeping this bottled up for Shuichi and Himiko’s sake? Whatever the case was Hikari needed to calm her down before this got ugly.

“…I-I’m sorry…but we don’t mean to do that,” Hikari said, “I mean, we only want to show you how much we love you!”

“No, you don’t love us,” Maki said, clenching her teeth and glaring at Hikari, “You’re obsessed with us. You come up to us and hug us out of the blue, you yell our names in the middle of the street and scream how much you love us, you grab our hands in crowded streets! Have you ever thought about how scared that makes us? About how you make us feel? You’re not making us feel loved, you’re making us feel scared. All these strangers watching us and obsessing over us makes it feel like we’ve never left Danganronpa.”

“I-I only wanted…wanted you to be happy…to be loved…” Hikari said in a very small voice.

A tense silence fell, and Maki looked away from Hikari like she was disgusted by her mere presence. Hikari felt hurt and yet at the same time she realized just what she had been doing all this time. She had just been repeating what they did during the Killing Game. Watching these people, feeling their suffering as their own, making them into mere playthings for their own entertainment. They had wanted Danganronpa to end, but if people in the outside world continued to obsess over them Danganronpa could never really end.

“We don’t need you to be happy.” Maki whispered. “We have each other, and that’s all we need. Himiko and Shuichi support me. They support me…even after what I did….”

Maki trailed off, her voice weakening. Hikari tried to say something to her, to comfort her in even the smallest way. She reached outbut she couldn’t touch her. Hikari had thought she was helping them by doing what she did, but it turns out she was just hurting them as much as the people who wanted to hurt them. Everything she had done to help was wrong. She wanted to make things better for them, to make up for having supported those awful games. Now she knew that it was for nothing.

Neither of them said anything for the longest time. It felt like an eternity to Hikari as she stared right at Maki, who was staring down at the counter. The only sound she could hear was Maki breathing heavily.

“I….I” Hikari tried to say something, but there was nothing she could say. Maki looked up at her and her expression slowly softened. She didn’t look happy, but she did seem to have calmed down a bit.

“Forget about us,” Maki said, her voice level, “Forget about finding us, of contacting us or doing anything to “help” us. Act as if we died that day, and make sure the Killing Games never happen again.”

“Y-Yes…” Hikari said, unable to say anything else in her defense. Maki sighed and shook her head, she looked exhausted, clearly that tirade had taken a lot out of her. It was also possible she wasn't getting much sleep because they were moving around so much. Hikari felt guilt weight her down like a huge stone on her back, if Maki was doing this badly...how were Shuichi and Himiko? She was the reason they weren't happy, she had wanted their happiness so badly but she had just made things worse.

“Listen…I know you want to help, but don’t,” She said, putting the basket of goods on the counter, “I’ll pay for everything. Don’t worry, I have the money.”

“I-I could let you have…” Hikari began

“Don’t.” Maki said curtly, “Just don’t.”

Maki’s words were enough to shut Hikari up. For a long time, there was no sound other than Hikari ringing up the goods. She didn’t even look at Maki, she just stared at the counter as she did her duty as a cashier. She couldn’t help but wonder which goods were for who. A bag of candy was probably for Himiko, the tea for Shuichi, and the bandages…well it was better not to think about that.

Hikari tried to get those thoughts out of her head. Thinking about the survivors used to bring her comfort, but now it felt like there was a block of lead in the pit of her stomach. People like her made their lives miserable, and they didn’t even realise it. Internally, she swore that she would give up on this life and forget about Danganronpa.

When everything had been rung up and the money had been exchanged Maki turned and walked away without another word. Hikari tried to think of something to say, something to make this all right, to redeem herself in Maki’s eyes.

But she couldn’t.

All she could do was watch Maki disappearing into the night. She was alone again, no sound but the hum from the florescent lights. Hikari stared at where Maki had once stood, unable to process everything that had happened.

She heard her phone buzz, alerting her to a new post on a Danganronpa news site. Instinctively she picked up the phone and looked at the post. It was urging people to give any information they had on the survivors, even offering a 500,000 yen reward to the person who could give them solid proof they had seen Shuichi, Himiko or Maki.

Hikari looked up at the security camera. It would be so easy, she’d get fame, money and probably even a little power in the fandom. It was all very tempting. Then she remembered Maki’s words, and felt guilty for even considering such a thing. She had sworn to herself that’d she’d forget about them and she was going back on it so easily. Was she really that weak? No, she was going to commit to it.

Steeling her resolve Hikari went into the back to a small room that contained the computer where the security video files were stored. She had access to it, but she wasn’t allowed to tamper with the videos. 

This would get her fired, but she didn’t care. The videos were uploaded onto the system every hour, so it was just a matter of waiting until the footage of her and Maki appeared. The second the video was uploaded she deleted it. She wanted no second thoughts, no hesitations, no wondering if she could spin this in a way that would make her feel better. The thought of Maki’s anger was enough to stop her from doing any of those things.

Over the next half hour, she purged everything Danganronpa related from her phone. All her memberships, all her photos, everything that connected her to the fandom. With that she went back to the counter and looked out on the pitch-black town.

She felt…free. She could live her life now, free of her commitment to Danganronpa. However, despite everything she still couldn’t help finding herself wishing Shuichi, Himiko and Maki would one day be safe and happy. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. No, she needed to forget about them, to make sure that she was no longer part of something that obsessed over the talented and worshiped them like gods.

She hoped that eventually she would forget about them, and so would the world. Soon they would be nothing more than a distant memory, a dark past people would only bring up if something like the Killing Games started again. That they would become just part of the nameless people in the crowd.

Only then would they truly be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not 100% sure about this story. I might go back and edit it after I get some feedback. 
> 
> Any and all criticism is appreciated, and thank you for reading.


End file.
